122:5-3-04
Payment and crediting arrangements and responsibilities.

(1)
Monthly PIPP plus installment amount. For a PIPP
plus customer with an electric baseload
residence, the monthly PIPP plus installment
amount shall be the greater of six per cent of such customer's monthly
household income, as determined based on current income information provided by
the PIPP plus customer at the time of application
or subsequent income verification, or the minimum monthly PIPP
plus installment amount described in paragraph
(C) of rule
122:5-3-02 of the
Administrative Code. For a PIPP plus customer
with an electrically heated residence, the monthly PIPP plus installment amount shall be the greater of ten
per cent of such customer's monthly household income, as determined based on
current income information provided by the PIPP plus customer at the time of application or subsequent
income verification, or the minimum monthly PIPP plus installment amount.

(2)
Payment to electric utility. PIPP
plus customers shall be required to remit their
monthly PIPP plus installment amounts directly to
electric distribution utilities each month. Subject to commission rules
applicable to customer billing, paragraph (G) of rule
4901:1-10-22 of the
Administrative Code (or any successor rule of substantially the same effect),
and any agreements between the director and electric distribution utilities
regarding PIPP plus procedures, the monthly PIPP
plus installment amounts will be shown on monthly
bills for electric service. Customer payments shall be credited to the accounts
of PIPP plus customers by each electric
distribution utility in accordance with payment crediting rules of the
commission. Consistent with the commission rule as set forth in paragraph (C)
of rule
4901:1-18-15 of the
Administrative Code (or any successor rule of substantially the same effect),
electric distribution utilities shall not charge late payment fees to any PIPP
plus customer as long as such customer continues
to be an active PIPP plus customer and no late
fees shall be charged to or payable from the fund.

(3)
Money other than
HEAP, emergency HEAP, or money provided on a monthly basis by a public or
private agency for the purpose of paying utility bills shall first be applied
to the customer's defaulted current monthly payment obligation (this could be
PIPP plus default, graduate PIPP plus default, or extended payment plan
default), if any, then applied to the customer's current monthly income-based
payment obligation (this could be PIPP plus installment, graduate PIPP plus
installment, or extended payment plan obligation), and lastly, shall be applied
to the customer's arrearages.

(1)
Customer arrearages paid from fund. Since
the administration of the PIPP plus program was
transferred to the
development services agency pursuant to section
4928.53 of the Revised Code,
electric distribution utilities have been paid for customer arrearages from the
fund. Accrued arrearages have generally been charged to the director and paid
to the affected electric distribution utility upon enrollment of an eligible
customer in the PIPP plus program. Current bill
balances have been charged to the director monthly and paid from the fund. From
and after the effective date of this rule, the director shall continue to pay
from the fund accrued arrearages upon initial enrollment of an eligible
customer in the PIPP plus program and monthly
current bill balances according to the payment procedures described in rule
122:5-3-05 of the
Administrative Code. Each electric distribution utility will maintain accurate
records of all customer arrearages paid or reimbursed to the utility through
any percentage of income payment plan mechanism, and such records shall be
maintained in a form that such electric distribution utility can readily report
customer arrearages on a per customer and aggregate basis. Electric
distribution utilities shall not be paid any amount included in any customer
arrearages that has previously been paid or reimbursed to the utility through
any percentage of income payment plan mechanism.

(2)
Monthly payment amounts not counted as
arrearages. Electric distribution utilities shall not be entitled to recover
from the fund, and they shall not charge to the director, any deficiencies
accruing as a result of a PIPP plus customer's
failure to pay monthly PIPP plus installment
amounts. Such deficiencies also shall not be counted as customer arrearages for
purposes of the arrearage crediting program provided by this rule.

(3)
Arrearage credits for eligible customers.
Each PIPP plus customer who makes an on-time
payment of the monthly PIPP plus installment
amount shall receive a credit applied in the same month as the on-time payment
against customer arrearages as described in this paragraph.
The amount of the arrearage credit that may be earned by a
PIPP plus customer each month for making an
on-time payment of the monthly PIPP plus
installment amount shall be the sum of the current bill balance, plus an
accrued arrearage credit determined by the electric distribution utility as
provided in this rule. The accrued arrearage credit shall be the amount that
would reduce the PIPP plus customer's accrued
arrearages to zero over a twenty-four month period assuming on-time payment of
all monthly PIPP plus installment amounts during
that period. The amount of the accrued arrearage credit will be determined
initially based on the customer's accrued arrearages at the time the customer
enrolls in the PIPP plus program. The electric
distribution utility shall calculate the customer's arrearage credit amount
upon the customer's enrollment in the PIPP plus
program and provide such customer's PIPP plus
arrearage credit amount to the office of community
assistance via an electronic data transfer. The
accrued arrearage credit amount shall be reviewed annually by the electric
distribution utility at or about the customer's PIPP plus anniversary date and, for each PIPP
plus customer who has not made each monthly
payment on-time during the prior year, adjusted to account for months for which
the on-time payment credit was not earned by the customer. The recalculated
accrued arrearage credit shall be an amount equal to one twenty-fourth of the
customer's accrued arrearages, including any accrued arrearage amount for which
a credit was not earned during the prior year and any current bill balance(s)
for which a credit was not earned during the prior year, but not including any
missed monthly PIPP plus installment amounts. The
electric distribution utility shall provide such customer's recalculated PIPP
plus arrearage credit amount to the office of
community assistance via an electronic data transfer. For a PIPP
plus customer who made each monthly payment
on-time during the prior year, the accrued arrearage credit amount shall remain
the same as during the prior year. For a PIPP plus customer with no accrued arrearage, the monthly
arrearage credit would be an amount equal to the customer's current bill
balance for that billing cycle. Arrearage credits will be applied against
customer arrearages only. PIPP plus customers may
not earn arrearage credits pursuant to this rule for any missed monthly PIPP
plus installment amounts. Arrearage credits may
not be accumulated on a customer account that is current and applied against
future service.

If a PIPP plus customer's account
balance becomes a credit balance, the customer will no longer be eligible for
the incentive credits until such time that the account balance is no longer a
credit. If the credit balance is not the result of any incentive credits, the
credit balance may be refunded to the customer upon request. At the time of
such refund, the electric utility shall remove the account from PIPP plus and
inform the customer of the availability of a more suitable payment plan
option.

(4)
Notice of
accrued arrearage credit amounts. The customer's
accrued arrearage credit shall be noted on the customer's utility bill promptly
after it is received from the electric distribution utility via the electronic
data transfer described in paragraph (B)(3) of this rule. Such electric
distribution utility shall apply arrearage credits for such customer beginning
with the next billing cycle after the calculation
or recalculation of such customer's accrued arrearage credit amount. Electric
distribution utilities shall apply arrearage credits to each bill for which an
on-time payment of the monthly PIPP plus
installment amount is made.

(5)
Graduate PIPP plus transition assistance and post-PIPP
plus arrearage credits. If a customer ceases to
participate in the PIPP plus program voluntarily
(which does not include being dropped from the PIPP plus program for failing to provide information
necessary to complete periodic eligibility re-verification or comply with other PIPP
plus program requirements) or because the
customer is no longer eligible to participate based on income, such customer
may nevertheless receive transition assistance and arrearage credits against
customer arrearages accumulated but not paid at the time such customer ceases
to participate in the PIPP plus program. To
qualify for graduate PIPP plus transition
assistance and post-PIPP plus arrearage credits,
a customer must pay all missed monthly PIPP plus
installment amounts, if any, owed to the electric distribution utility for
which transition assistance or arrearage credits will be provided. A customer
will be eligible to receive graduate PIPP plus
transition assistance and post-PIPP plus
arrearage credits under this rule based on payments made during the twelve
months immediately following the last billing cycle during which the customer
ceases to participate in the PIPP plus program.
Graduate PIPP plus transition assistance and
post-PIPP plus arrearage credits under this rule
will be applied only against customer arrearages accumulated at the time the
customer ceases to participate in the PIPP plus
program. Arrearage credits may not be accumulated on a customer account that is
current and applied against future service.

(a)
Graduate PIPP plus - customer continues electric service. A graduate
PIPP plus customer continues to receive electric
service from the same electric distribution utility after ceasing to be
enrolled in the
PIPP plus program. A graduate PIPP plus
customer will be eligible to receive arrearage credits under this rule if
the customer makes regular payments for electric service

in an amount that
is the average of the customer's most recent monthly PIPP
plus installment and the customer's budget bill
amount if the customer were placed on a twelve-month budget plan. If such
customer's graduate PIPP plus transition
installment amount would not reduce each current monthly bill balance to zero,
then during the twelve-month period under this rule, the electric distribution
utility shall apply a credit to the graduate PIPP plus customer's account for the difference between the
transition installment amount and the actual cost of service and may submit
such credit amount to the fund for reimbursement as transition assistance. The
graduate PIPP plus arrearage credit will be
earned and shall be applied to such customer's account for each month during
the twelve-month period that the customer makes an on-time payment for electric
service to the electric distribution utility until the customer arrearage has
been fully credited. If the customer fails to make twelve on-time payments for
electric service during the twelve-month graduate PIPP plus arrearage credit period, the uncredited balance
of the customer arrearage shall remain on the customer's account.
This remaining arrearage may become due and the
customer may be placed on one of the extended payment plans in rule
4901:1-18-05 of the
Administrative Code. Upon notice from the office of community
assistance to the electric distribution utility that
the customer has ceased to participate in PIPP plus, the utility shall determine the customer
arrearages as of the effective date of such notice and calculate the monthly
arrearage credit as an amount equal to one-twelfth of such customer arrearages,
but not including any missed monthly PIPP plus
installment amounts. The electric distribution utility shall notify the office
of community assistance of the monthly graduate PIPP
plus arrearage credit amount, and the utility
shall apply the graduate PIPP plus arrearage
credit as provided in this paragraph.

(b)
Customers on company-specific arrearage
crediting payment plans as of the effective date of this rule. For customers on
company-specific arrearage crediting payment
plans as of the implementation date of these
rules, such former PIPP
plus customer shall be enrolled in
and receive graduate-PIPP
plus arrearage credits as described in paragraph
(A) of this rule provided that such customer makes regular payments for
electric services under a budget plan offered by the electric distribution
utility or for the cost of electric service as billed.

(c)
Post-PIPP plus - customer account closed. When an electric
distribution utility closes the account of a PIPP plus customer (i.e., account "finaled"), the utility
shall report to the office of community assistance
the amount of any customer arrearage for which the utility was previously paid
by the fund or through any other percentage of income payment plan mechanism.
Each electric distribution utility shall notify such PIPP
plus customer that post-PIPP
plus arrearage credits will be available during
the next twelve-month period to reduce the customer's final bill amount and
request that such customer contact the utility company for additional
information. Each electric distribution utility shall enter into a payment
arrangement with any former PIPP plus customer
who will agree to make payments against such customer's arrearage on a finaled
account. A post-PIPP plus customer who makes
payments against the customer's arrearage on a
finaled account as provided in this rule will be eligible for post-PIPP
plus arrearage credits. In order to receive a
post-PIPP plus arrearage credit, the amount of
the customer payment must be at least one-sixtieth of the customer arrearage on
the finaled account. The post-PIPP plus customer
will earn an arrearage credit for each such payment made to the electric
distribution utility during the twelve-month period after the customer's
account is closed. The post-PIPP plus arrearage
credit shall be calculated by the electric distribution utility as
of the customer arrearage on
the finaled account, and the electric distribution utility shall apply the
credit against the customer arrearage each time that a customer payment is made
as described in this paragraph. If a post-PIPP plus customer fails to make payments against customer
arrearages on a finaled account during the -month post-PIPP
plus arrearage credit period, the uncredited
balance of the customer arrearage shall remain on the customer's
account.

(6)
Limitations
on arrearage credits. The arrearage credits provided in paragraph (B) of this
rule apply only to customer arrearages for which electric distribution
utilities have been paid through a percentage of income payment plan mechanism.
Arrearage credits provided in paragraph (B) of this rule may not be earned
based on payments made from federal funds administered by the office of
community assistance.

(C)
Evaluation of program effectiveness. The
director shall periodically review and analyze data collected in connection
with the administration of the PIPP plus program
and evaluate the payment and arrearage crediting arrangements, the operation
and performance of the PIPP plus program as a
means of assisting low-income households to maintain electric service and the
fiscal implications of the PIPP plus program for
ratepayers, generally.